


On Surviving Heart Attacks

by tweetthebirdy



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brothers, Fluff and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 16:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11361639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tweetthebirdy/pseuds/tweetthebirdy
Summary: For someone who doesn't know how to swim, Luffy drowns. A lot.





	On Surviving Heart Attacks

**Author's Note:**

> Another fanfic I wrote years ago that I dusted off to post here. Write before Sabo was introduced in the manga, so unfortunately no Sabo here. :(

Luffy drowns. A lot.

Each time he does, Ace has a minor heart attack. Some of the heart attacks aren't even minor.

The drowning, Ace knows, is a combination of Luffy's inability to swim, the ridiculous amount of streams, rivers, lakes, and _waterfalls_ that surrounds the forest they live in, and the unknown depths of Luffy's stupidity. Ace also knows that Luffy's stupidity is the main culprit as it is large enough to take on warships.

While Ace may not love his brother per say, (because love is such a icky, girly word) he does care - feel some sort of - needs - _he doesn't want Luffy to die_. And drowning can lead to death.

Ace still remembers the first time he saved Luffy from drowning. It had started with a bird. A big bird. A big bird five times the size of his little brother and somehow, someway, Luffy had thought it would be a smart idea - whydoeshisbrother _dothesethings_ \- to try and catch the bird by himself. Five minutes later, the bird is flying off with him, its unreasonably large claws around his brother's unreasonably small arms. Ace gives chase, heart in his throat and a strange mixture of fear, desperation, and _anger_ burning in his chest. Tree branches cut at his skin as he crashes through them and the cold air burns his lungs, but Ace is beyond caring.

High above the trees, Luffy screams, "Let go of me, let go! Ace! Save me! Gumo gumo - _ooooh_ , I can see our house from here."

And Ace wants to yell, "Dumbass, our house is in the other direction," but he's too busy throwing rocks, large sticks, and anything his hands can close around in a frantic attempt to bring the bird and his brother down. One of Luffy's gumo gumo punches (Ace doesn't want to comment on the name, even less on the punches themselves) must've collided because the bird squawks in pain and lets his brother go.

The fear in Ace's chest doubles when he realises that now his stupid, _stupid_ brother is no longer in danger of being eaten alive as he is _plummeting to his death_ instead. Ace runs, knowing he cannot catch his brother in time, and oh god Luffy is going to die. But maybe his brother's rubber body will somehow absorb enough of the shock so Luffy will not die as much as end up in a coma for life?

When Ace hears the wailing of his brother cut off not by the sound of bones breaking against stone but the _kersplash_ of water, and he sees the lake Luffy fell into, the relief is strong enough his knees almost give way under him. His brother is safe and not a human pancake, and Ace is as close as he will ever come to being religious. Then he notices that Luffy isn't splashing and laughing, but splashing and gurgling, and his heart is back in his throat, the previous fear returning with a vengeance.

Luffy is stupid, yes, but Ace is stupid too for forgetting that Luffy couldn't swim - for god's sake, the boy's fallen off a ravine and chased by a pack of wolves before, how on earth can he not swim - and for forgetting that devil fruit users will never learn how to swim.

Ace is not good at swimming. Decent enough so he will not drown himself, but he has never swam with an intent of saving someone before, and he has certainly never swam while a flailing, spluttering seven year old ball of terror clings onto him like a vice. Somehow, they make it onto land. Somehow, Luffy is still alive.

He hits his brother then. Hits him again and again and Luffy whimpers and blubbers, and Ace hugs him tight enough his brother squeaks in surprise.

Ace will admit to thinking that would be the worst of it. Years later, Ace learns that the fear in his chest is never going to go away, and Luffy's life in peril is less of a weekly occurrence insomuch as a daily one. Aside from having the self preservation of a pebble, Luffy and water had a strange sort of magnetism. Most people who didn't know how to swim stayed as far away as possible from water, but Luffy. _Luffy_.

Luffy drowns a lot.

Ace is now an accomplished swimmer. He also knows CPR.  Alright, so he will admit to exaggerating how much danger his little brother places himself into, but the fact doesn't change that Ace worries about him, worries about him constantly, worries enough that some of the villagers even mock him for it. It makes Ace bristle and glower because, look, it's not like he loves Luffy or anything. He just. He just wants Luffy alive and well.

So one day, when he hears his name and sees Luffy's head sticking out of a lake Luffy had almost drowned in before, his heart freezes. There is no thinking before Ace plunges himself into the water. His clothes are drenched instantly, their weight dragging him down, and the water is cold enough his skin numbs, but all Ace can see is Luffy, the straw hat his brother always has on, and the body of water around them that could kill if he isn't fast enough.

Ace swims and swims, and it is not until he reaches Luffy that he notices Something Is Wrong. Luffy is still shouting his name, but not in fear or terror or the voice of a dumb kid who can't seem to stay away from things that want to kill him, but in delight.

"Ace, Ace!" Luffy says, the joy positively oozing out of every pore of his water soaked skin. "Look! I'm swimming! Kinda!"

Ace treads water, looks down, and sees a swim tube around his brother's waist.

"I wanted to surprised you." Luffy beams at him with a sort of innocent happiness kittens would shrivel in the presence of, and Ace doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry. "'Cause I feel bad you have to save me all the time. Now I can just wear this and you won't ever have to worry again! Hmm, though I guess it would make it hard to climb trees..."

 Ace does laugh then, laughs until his chest hurts before grabbing his brother's head and dunking it underwater. "You _asshole_."

 Luffy comes up gasping and spluttering and wheezes out, "What the hell, Ace?"

Ace dunks Luffy's head again, and his brother glares at him under wet bangs before splashing water into Ace's face with his arms.

This would've be funnier if the motion doesn't cause Luffy to slip out under his swim tube and almost drown for real this time. So in the end, Ace still had to drag him onto dry land and pound his back as Luffy hacks out the water he swallowed.

Ace thinks it's high time he visited a doctor. The way his heart seems to stop, restart, speed up, and on some occasions feel like it's bursting out of his chest cannot be healthy. Ace is amazed he, himself, isn't dead yet from the stress. Are all younger siblings as high maintenance as Luffy is?

"Sorry," Luffy tells him, lying sprawled on the grassy bank, his voice still weak from coughing. "Sorry you had to save me again. One day, you'll see. I'll be strong enough to save you."

Ace snorts and kicks his brother in the shins. "Dream on, kiddo."

Of course, living with heart attacks - and Luffy - is never easy, but Ace wills his heart to beat just bit stronger for a bit longer. Because Ace can't die, not as long as his stupid, _stupid_ brother does these stupid, stupid things, and god knows someone has to be there to save him.


End file.
